342 PROCEEDINGS OP THE NATIONAL MUHEini. vol. xxxvi. 



hadzu-ton. The four dewdrop beads are also termed shi-ten-no, the 

 four regents who are supposed to preside over the four quarters of the 

 universe. The rosary represents metaphorically the Buddhist pan- 

 - tJieon ; and the position of tlie four dewdrops at the ends of the 

 strings on which all the other beads are strung, thus keeping in har- 

 mony and order the entire rosary as it is intended to be used, is sup- 

 posed to be symbolic of their actual positions of power and authority 

 in the universe. 



On the main string, at an interval of seven beads on either side 

 from the upper parent bead, are two beads, rather smaller than the 

 others and generally of a different material, and again, at an inter- 

 val of fourteen beads from these, on either side, are other two of the 

 same kind. They are sometimes erroneously called shi-teu-no, the 

 four regents, or shi-hosafsu, the four saints. They indicate Avliere a 

 special invocation is to be uttered while the rosary is lifted to the 

 forehead with a reverence. 



A smaller rosary of 16 beads, corresponding to the 16 Japanese 

 rohans, or chief disciples of Buddha (analogous to the 18 lohans of 

 the Chinese), is chiefly used by lay people on ceremonial and social 

 occasions. It has only one parent bead, or oiju-dcuiia, and one elon- 

 gated, tapering bead in form of a vase or pagoda (similar to the 

 retaining beads in the Tibetan rosary), called fusn-dome, "tassel 

 stopper,'' and terminates in a silk tassel. Frequently it is spaced 

 by two saints' or hnsatsu beads of a different substance. Moreover, 

 the Japanese rosary varies in the number as well as the arrangement 

 of the beads with the different sects. 



The rosary, according to Miss Scidmore, who traveled extensively 

 in Japan, plays an important i)art not only in the religious life but 

 also in the social etiquette of Japan. It is carried by monks and la}'^ 

 people on all occasions of religious celebrations, on visits of cere- 

 mony or condolence, at funerals, etc. There is always a hook on 

 the wall or on posts of the ceremonial or tea room, on which to hang 

 the jiu-dzu, and a jnii(iue or historic rosar}^ is a nuich appreciated 

 ornament for a tea room. iVmong the treasures of the Imperial 

 Museum in Tokyo is the jiu-dsu of the regent Shotoku Taishi, the 

 Constantine of Buddhism in Japan, who died in 621 A. D. All the 

 soldiers in the late Russo-Japanese war carried rosaries with them. 

 The dead are always buried or cremated with a rosary slipped on the 

 wrist, and the mourners in a funeral procession likewise carry each a 

 rosary. 



Jiii-dzu shoj)s, marked by a gigantic rosary on the outside, flourish 

 at every place of popular pilgrimage and at some of the larger tem- 

 ples, and a rosary that has been consecrated over the sacred flame 

 and incense smoke of a venerated temple is greatly valued by the 

 devout. 



